December 2025 MNA Meeting Minutes
Montavilla Neighborhood Association
December 2025 Meeting Minutes
12/08/25
Present Board Members:
Steph Cleary, President
Kristina Perry, Vice President
Keegan Baurer, Secretary
Sarah Hartzel, Treasurer
Adam Fiss, SE Uplift Liaison
Louise Hoff, Member at large
Elisabeth Litster, Member at large
Nedim Filipovic, Member at large
Emily Meneer, Member at large
Laura Mulligan, Member at large
Steph Cleary called this meeting to order on 12/08/25 at 6:33pm after confirming that a quorum was present.
Agenda:
1. Treasurer Report
2. SE Uplift
3. Parks and Gardens
4. Communications Committee
5. Land Use and Transportation
6. Oak Street Community Action Committee
7. Harrison Community GNA Committee
8. City Hall Update
9. PEMO (?)
10. Unfinished Business
11. New Business
Vote to postpone November minutes. Motion by Steph Cleary. Seconded by Laura Mulligan. In favor: 10. Opposed: 0. Motion passes.
I. Treasurer Report:
a. MNA is in the process of transitioning to OnPoint Credit Union as they to be easier to work with and are closer to the neighborhood. There will likely be little to no fees associated with this account. Kristina willing to be a second signer on the account.
II. SE Uplift:
a. Adam attended the SE Uplift meeting. Their board is comprised of officials of various neighbor associations. At the meeting, Adam was elected to sit on the board. There were a few items discussed in the past two meetings. In December they voted on matters concerning fuel storage depots on the Willamette just north of downtown. There was a letter brought to SE Uplift and other organizations to reconsider how we are thinking about fuel in relation to potential natural disasters. The pipeline that brings oil to Oregon has been compromised. This letter speaks to the our future regarding energy use. The letter was deemed as soft in tone and the board suggested that more efforts could be taken to address energy use concerns.
b. There was also a vote on BAT (Business Access and Transit) lanes. The plan is outside lanes would be designated as bus only lanes (otherwise only north and southbound lanes for drivers). SE Uplift approved BAT lanes across the entirety of 82nd. 82nd Business Association was in favor of less BAT lanes. Trimet has been divided on the issue. Trimet still accepting comments and hosting an open house. The business association threatened to sue Trimet over the BAT lane issue. The project is reliant on federal funding which is up in the air at this point. 2029 is the earliest this would happen. Decrease transit time by eleven minutes for riders. Increase commute time for divers by 3-4 minutes.
c. Last item voted on was community grants. None of our proposals are selected but some projects/events in Mt. Tabor were selected.
III. Parks and Gardens:
a. Attended SE Uplift’s transportation meeting (next one is next week).
b. Covered the ABC’s of Zoning. It was a presentation from the Bureau of Planning. Resources given for advocating regarding zoning concerns. Next week will be talking about Cesar Chavez Blvd and the planning committee. The 82nd Transit Project is divisive, multi million dollar project.
c. On Friday (12/12/25) from 9am-11am, there will be a policy and budget committee meeting at PCC in their Community Hall Annex. They will be discussing the BAT lanes with a goal of making a recommendation. They will have time for public comment.
IV. Communications Committee:
a. The website design is finalized and is easily toggled to meet board needs.
b. It will be easy to add resource pages as the vision was for the website to be a resource hub for the neighborhood.
c. We are waiting on final design tweaks and the website will be hosted on Squarespace.
V. Land Use and Transportation:
a. See above for updates via the SE Uplift Section.
VI. Oak Street Community Action Committee:
a. Community Action committee is made up of members from the community (city, county, village, MNA) and meet monthly.
b. The village is fully occupied and operations are reportedly going well, although they are still dealing with a lot of camping and criminal activity.
c. People inside are vetted and working on treatment.
d. Some requests for the GNA from MNA were not necessarily actionable due to laws at the city/county level. Police staffing shortages have also created barriers to addressing camping.
VII. Harrison Community GNA Committee:
a. Keegan has met with community members on two occasions at Bipartisan Coffee to gather concerns from residents and report back to the GNA Committee.
b. These concerns have been included as discussion points for future GNA Committee meetings.
c. The next GNA Committee meeting will be on 12/15 at 3:00pm.
VIII. City Hall Update:
a. None noted.
IX. PEMO Update (?)
a. None noted.
X. Stone Soup Updates
a. Ellen, Executive Director offered a presentation on Stone Soup.
b. Things have been moving slowly. It is serving as a coffee shop and training site, effectively acting as a workforce training program for 100 people per year. Participants are those at risk of homelessness or have barriers to employment.
c. Participants complete a 12 week culinary training program. They are paid a stipend and have a support services coordinator (SNAP, work clothes, etc.)
d. Stone Soup is funded via providing 2000 community meals per week to various contracted entities.
e. “Food with dignity”
f. The current focus of the site is revamping their visibility, hours, and menu (these changes take place in January).
g. Ellen will provide graphics for the MNA newsletter.
XI. Unfinished Business:
a. None noted.
XII. New Business:
a. Neighborhood cleanup was conducted via a partnership with Solve; over 15 people showed up.
b. There appears to be notable community interest; someone interested can undergo one hour training and then can spearhead a cleanup.
Steff Cleary moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:32. Laura seconded.